CIVIL WAR VETERAN 
William C. Buchanan

William C. Buchanan’s foot stone cites his birth year and death year. It also records his service with the 36th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in Company C.

photo: QHGS

The Buchanan family grave marker has weathered considerably, but the “G.A.R.” insignia is still visible between two flags engraved at the top of the stone.

photo: QHGS

To find genealogical information about William—date of birth, date of death—several online databases were visited in the following order:

1. To establish the fact that William C. Buchanan served in the Union Army, we consulted U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. 

This source provided the following information: 

“William C. Buchanan served in the 36th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, in Company C. He enlisted in the Union Army as a Private on 7 August 1864, was promoted to full Corporal, and mustered out on 15 June 1865.”

2. To find out if William was a Civil War pensioner, we looked for him in the National Archives and Records Administration. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. 

This source provided the following information:

“William C. Buchanan filed for a Civil War pension in Nebraska on 28 April 1891 as an Invalid. his widow, Mary, filed for a widow’s pension on 24 May 1920 in California.

3. We examined the California, Death Index, 1905-1939 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013, and found the following information: 

“William C. Buchanan, born about 1837, died on 27 April 1920, in Los Angeles county.”

4. Finally, using information from source three, we located a digitized image of William’s death certificate on the FamilySearch® website at California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994, index and images, FamilySearch, Los Angeles, Long Beach > Death certificates 1920 no 1-399 > image 422 of 508. 

This source provided the following information: 

“William C. Buchanan was born on 18 February 1837, in Pennsylvania. His father, also named William, was born in Scotland, and his mother, Elizabeth Lee, had an “unknown” birthplace. William died, aged 83, on 27 April 1920, at his home in Long Beach at 527 E. First Street. He had resided in California and lived in Long Beach for 9 years and 6 months. William was buried on 30 April 1920, and the mortuary in charge of his interment was Byrum, Brunscher & Baker. The death certificate informant was William’s widow, Mary J. Buchanan.”

The four sources cited above create only the barest outline of William C. Buchanan’s life. To find out more about him—to make his story “come alive”—we can use U.S. Census records to trace his journey from Pennsylvania to Illinois to Nebraska, and thence to Long Beach, California. Information about the 36th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, is available on the Illinois genweb at http://civilwar.illinoisgenweb.org/r050/036-c-in.html. Letters written by Pvt. Benjamin Sayers, a Union soldier who served with the 36th Illinois Infantry in company E, are available in pdf format at http://www.nps.gov/stri/learn/historyculture/upload/Sayers_Benjamin_Papers.pdf. We can also search Ancestry.com to see if there is information about William in public family trees.

RESEARCH TIP: Use National Park Service databases when you are researching Civil War veterans. Explore their website at http://www.nps.gov/history/ to find letters, diaries, regiment lists, and other documents available in pdf format.